Gaza aid distribution declared ‘orchestrated killing’ by MSF

Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, the organization that administers Israel’s militarized food distribution program in Gaza, described as “institutionalized starvation and dehumanization,” has called for its immediate end.

In a depressing report titled “This is not aid,” which was released on Thursday. The medical nonprofit, which is based close to two GHF aid distribution sites controlled by the Israeli military and private US contractors, described this as “organized killing”.

According to MSF, those sites have since “become synonymous with stampedes, suffocating crowd surges, violent looting, and lethal ‘crowd control’ measures” since their May opening, according to MSF in its reports.

According to the report, “the GHF distribution sites fall dangerously short of any recognized standard for safe and dignified humanitarian distributions.”

Nowhere else in the world, including in the most tense conflict zones, would a violence-related “aid distribution” site be tolerated. The organization reaffirmed that this must stop right away.

MSF teams were “mentally prepared for responding to conflict,” but not “to civilians killed and maimed while seeking aid,” it said.

Since GHF took over distribution of aid in Gaza, it continued, adding that MSF’s primary care clinics have since become large-scale casualty units.

At its two primary care centers in Gaza’s al-Attar and al-Mawasi, which are close to two GHF distribution sites, over a seven-week period in June and July, MSF received 1, 380 injured people and 28 dead bodies.

According to the report, 174 people received gunshot wounds, most of whom were young men and teenage boys, out of which 174 were women and children.

A significant number of patients from Khan Younis’ GHF sites received gunshot wounds to their lower limbs, which MSF described as “strongly suggests intentional targeting of people within the distribution sites, rather than accidental or indiscriminate fire,” according to MSF.

According to the report, “crowd control” measures, such as pepper spray and other forms of physical assault, were frequently used to treat injuries in many patients.

According to the report, patients who were seriously injured at GHF sites typically arrived covered in sand and dust from time spent lying on the ground in front of bulletproof devices.

According to an MSF coordinator, “people are being shot like animals.”